The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Visa sees debit card rules slowing growth in 2012
- Australia lifts ban on cattle exports to Indonesia
- Support Line
| Visa sees debit card rules slowing growth in 2012 Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:56 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP) - Visa Inc. on Wednesday warned that its revenue and earnings growth will slow in 2012 after new regulations on the fees banks can charge for debit card transactions kick in. The San Francisco payments network operator repeated an earlier forecast for its current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, for revenue growth between 11 percent and 15 percent and earnings-per-share growth of greater than 20 percent. Next year, however, Visa said it expects its revenue growth to slow to the high-single-digit to low-double-digit range. The company expects earnings-per-share growth to slow to the mid-to-high teens. Analysts, on average, were forecasting 11 percent revenue growth and 16 percent earnings growth for 2012. The slowdown will reflect the rules announced by the Federal Reserve last week that kick in on Oct. 1 and next April. The first will limit the fees that banks can charge retailers for processing debit card transactions. The second will give merchants the power to decide which network handles their transactions. Together, the two could drive down the revenue for the banks that are Visa's customers. While transaction fees are not paid directly to Visa, it's expected that the network operator will have to reduce some of the fees it charges banks. And since it operates the biggest debit card networks, giving merchants choice to go to other processors will also have an impact. "We expect that fiscal 2012 will bear the weight of the regulations financially, and in fiscal 2013 revenue growth will regain momentum off of 2012s level," CEO Joseph Saunders said during a conference call to discuss the forecast. Because Visa's fiscal year ends in September it was able to keep its forecast for the current year. Since the Fed moved the date the fee cap will kick in from July 21 to Oct. 1, it will have no impact on Visa's results for fiscal 2011. U.S. debit revenue accounts for about 20 percent of the company's overall revenue, Saunders said during the call. The CEO said Visa prepared for different scenarios while it waited for the Fed to decide on the new debit rules. Now that they are in place, Visa can go forward with its plans. But Saunders declined to spell out how the company will respond, deferring specifics to late July, when it reports fiscal third-quarter financial results, and October, when it reports for the full year. He did say, however, that "providing some level of incentives to specific merchants may be an effective strategy" to ensure Visa receives profits from their ability to choose processing networks. "We will compete vigorously to maintain (the) Visa routing preference and have several strategies we will put into action to achieve this outcome," Saunders said. For the current year, Visa's forecast translates to revenue of between $8.95 billion and $9.11 billion and earnings of at least $4.84 per share. That is, however, short of Wall Street's forecasts. Analysts, on average, are looking for $9.16 billion in revenue, with estimates ranging from $9 billion to $9.3 billion, according to FactSet. They are expecting earnings of $4.91 per share, with estimates ranging from $4.75 to $5.04. Visa also said that it has completed its $1 billion share repurchase program announced in April. It bought back about 12 million shares at an average price of $77 per share. Shares in Visa slipped 57 cents to $87.63 in extended trading Wednesday. They ended the regular trading session off 12 cents at $88.20. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Australia lifts ban on cattle exports to Indonesia Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:55 PM PDT SYDNEY (AP) - Australia will resume exporting live cattle to Indonesia within weeks after a ban on the $350 million per year trade was lifted, with the federal government saying new rules for exporters will help ensure the animals are treated humanely. The government banned exports to Indonesia last month after an outcry over a video that aired in Australia showing animals crying out and writhing as they were slaughtered. The footage also showed cattle being beaten and taking minutes to bleed to death as their throats were repeatedly slashed. "The Australian community made it clear it would not support a trade in which these things occurred," Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig told reporters on Wednesday. "I want to make it clear the decision to suspend the trade was not an easy decision to make, but it was the right decision." Under the new system, slaughterhouses will have to prove they meet animal welfare guidelines. Ludwig said tracking and transparency in the cattle supply chain will also be improved. "The exporter is required to trace the animals from the domestic supply chain into the feedlot, from the feedlot into the abattoir," he said. "The abattoir will be independently audited." In Jakarta, Indonesian officials greeted the revocation as a good news. "It's good if they lifted the ban," deputy minister of agriculture Bayu Krisnamurti told The Associated Press. "In principle, we are always open to imports to cover our shortages at home." The ban was a reminder of the need for awareness of how cattle should be treated, said Thomas Sembiring, chairman of Indonesia's Beef Importers Association. Malcolm Jackman, managing director of Elders Ltd. which supplies 60 percent of the Australian cattle exported to Indonesia and owner of an Indonesia slaughterhouse, said he aimed to send the first shipment to Indonesia on Aug. 1. "I think you'll see that some of the larger exporters such as ourselves will be up and running fairly quickly," Jackman told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television late Wednesday. "But I suspect it's going to take a couple of months to get the industry up to full speed," he added. The animal welfare agencies that video taped and analyzed the scenes of cruelty broadcast on Australian television, Animals Australia and the RSPCA, said there was no guarantee that Indonesian slaughterhouses would use the Australian-standard technique of stunning - a process of rendering cattle temporarily unconscious with a device that causes a brain hemorrhage - before they are killed. "They could still suffer the pain and distress of throat cutting while fully conscious, and that's not only unacceptable to the RSPCA, it's going to be unacceptable to the Australian community," RSPCA Australia chief executive Heather Neil said in a statement. The minor Greens party says they will continue with plans to introduce legislation to the Australian parliament that would permanently ban all live animal exports. Australia is the world's largest exporter of livestock. Exports of live Australian cattle account for up to 40 percent of the beef eaten in Indonesia. The government's decision to halt exports was met with outrage by the Australian cattle industry, which blamed the ban for a sharp drop in income. Last month, Australia's best-known Outback cattle ranch, the iconic Bullo River Station in the Northern Territory, was put on the market after its owner said the ban destroyed her livelihood. Lang Coppin, who owns a cattle station in Western Australia's Pilbara region, said the lifting of the ban came just in time. About half of the 4,000 cattle Coppin exports each year go to Indonesia, and his business has been struggling since the exports were halted. "All of a sudden they were just going to shut us all down, and I think they thought, 'Bloody hell, I guess we better do something about this,"' Coppin told The Associated Press. "(The ban) was just a very bad political decision and the ramifications, I think, between the two countries have been very damaging." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:10 PM PDT DRB-HICOM has been in correction mode but within a range since peaking out at a seven-year high of RM2.50 on April 7. For now, indicators are still unclear, implying more sideways consolidation until a clearer picture emerges. A positive breakout will signal a rally continuation, targeting the RM2.70 level. If the concrete floor of RM2.14 is violated, look for the RM1.90 mark as the next lower support. HAP Seng Consolidated bounced off the recent lows of RM5.05 (now the solid support base) to a high of RM5.50 during intra-day session yesterday. Apparently, the mending technical reading suggests more rebound in the short term, with initial resistance anticipating at RM5.62, followed by the RM5.87 level, of which a decisive breakout would signal a new leg up uptrend. RENEWED buying interest lifted Sarawak Oil Palms from the RM3.72 level on June 28 to an intra-day high of RM4.22 yesterday. Based on the daily chart, prices are poised to challenge the historical peak of RM4.25, established on June 7. Support is pegged at the RM4 mark. > The comments above do not represent a recommendation to buy or sell.
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